branch
(brɑːntʃ , bræntʃ )
Word forms: branches , branching , branched
1. countable noun B1
The branches of a tree are the parts that grow out from its trunk and have leaves, flowers, or fruit growing on them.
2. countable noun B1
A branch of a business or other organization is one of the offices, shops, or groups which belong to it and which are located in different places.
The local branch of Bank of America is handling the accounts. [+ of]
...Britain's leading autocare service with over 400 branches nationwide.
Synonyms: office, department, unit, wing
3. countable noun [adjective NOUN] B2
A branch of an organization such as the government or the police force is a department that has a particular function.
Senate employees could take their employment grievances to another branch of government. [+ of]
He had a fascination for submarines and joined this branch of the service. [+ of]
...the Metropolitan Police Special Branch.
Synonyms: division, part, section, subdivision
4. countable noun B2
A branch of a subject is a part or type of it.
Whole branches of science may not receive any grants.
Oncology is the branch of medicine dealing with tumors. [+ of]
5. countable noun
A branch of your family is a group of its members who are descended from one particular person.
This is one of the branches of the Roosevelt family. [+ of]
Phrasal verbs:
branch off
phrasal verb [Also VERB PARTICLE]
A road or path that branches off from another one starts from it and goes in a slightly different direction. If you branch off somewhere, you change the direction in which you are going.
After a few miles, a small road branched off to the right. [VERB PARTICLE preposition/adverb]
She branched off down the earth track. [VERB PARTICLE preposition/adverb, VERB PARTICLE noun]
branch out
phrasal verb [Also VERB PARTICLE]
If a person or an organization branches out, they do something that is different from their normal activities or work.
I continued studying moths, and branched out to other insects. [VERB PARTICLE preposition/adverb]
Image of branch
© seeyou, Shutterstock
Idioms:
an olive branch
something that indicates that you want to end a disagreement
`We are holding out an olive branch, inviting the landowners to talk. We are trying to break the deadlock.'
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
root and branch
if something is changed root and branch, it is changed completely, so that none of the old or traditional parts remain
These measures should change our economic system root and branch.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Collocations:
branch breaks branch library branch of government dead branch evolutionary branch executive branch fallen branch judicial branch leafy branch legislative branch local branch low branch low-hanging branch main branch military branch nerve branch oak branch open a branch palm branch pine branch service branch thorny branch tree branch upper branch various branches of willow branch
It goes too high, the branch breaks and returns it to earth with a thump.
Times, Sunday Times
Under the weight of too much snow accumulating on the canopy mat, a branch breaks off.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
When the monkey hangs his basket on a thin branch, the branch breaks and the basket of fruit falls.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
If a dry tree branch breaks from the tree with the larvae inside, the larvae stays inside the branch, but produces smaller adults than usual.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The branch breaks and traps his paw.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Even more works can be used on the computers available in even the smallest branch library.
Times, Sunday Times
It was the first branch library to be part of a multi-purpose civic complex.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Part of this reconstruction led to the building of a large new branch library in the late 1970s.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Following desegregation, this branch library became a repository for government documents.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The ground floor housed a branch library, and a wide variety of adult education classes and community activities.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Parliament must not dictate to the executive branch of government.
Times, Sunday Times
While they control only one branch of government, they have to compromise.
Times, Sunday Times
When you control only one branch of government and your opponents have two, you do not get to dictate the outcome.
Times, Sunday Times
Mercifully, finally, the other branch of government began to resist and an actual debate took place last week.
Times, Sunday Times
Doctors' leaders welcomed the measures, but did not want surgeries turning into a branch of government.
Times, Sunday Times
He tries, and fails, to fashion a walking stick from a dead branch.
Times, Sunday Times
Male birds sing from an exposed perch such as a dead branch or the top of a tree.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Dead branches are the favourite calling post for this bird, a relative of the less-colourful collared dove.
Times, Sunday Times
Dead branches also encourage diseases so, regardless of how their removal will affect the shape of a plant, chop them out.
Times, Sunday Times
Dead branches dried up and the amount of forests on the flood plains decreased sharply.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
This work asks the question: are chimpanzees and human genetically similar to the extent that they must be placed on the same evolutionary branch?
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Some are from unusual evolutionary branches and may offer clues to the puzzle of how jumping spiders evolved.
Times, Sunday Times
This idea of all evolutionary branches eventually running out of energy and degenerating into extinction was a pessimistic view of evolution and was unpopular amongst many scientists of the time.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Above, the executive branch supervised the polishing of brass and endless painting.
Times, Sunday Times
Explore ten pardons below that shaped this exclusive right of our executive branch.
Smithsonian Mag
Parliament must not dictate to the executive branch of government.
Times, Sunday Times
I went to the highest level of the executive branch to get a definitive legal view 12 years ago ...
Times, Sunday Times
That law created the role of independent counsel, who was appointed by the courts rather than the executive branch.
Times, Sunday Times
A fallen branch can embed itself in the soil and become a new tree.
Times, Sunday Times
It persists for some while on fallen branches and logs.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The larvae tunnel in fallen branches and trunks of chestnut, hickory, oak, sycamore and other trees.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
She plucked a portion of the fallen branches and ate it for good luck.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Species may be found on fallen branches of angiosperms, trunks, and sometimes on fruits.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The judicial branch consists of various levels of courts as well as the attorneys general offices.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The judicial branch operates at both the national and local levels.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Members of the judicial branch (justices) are appointed by the head of state.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
In many jurisdictions the judicial branch has the power to change laws through the process of judicial review.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
It has a legislative branch of five town council members, one being the town supervisor, and a judicial branch consisting of two justices.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
They build mossy nests, generally towards the end of a leafy branch in a small tree.
Times, Sunday Times
One sees the tenacity of the leaves when a gust of wind can only push its way through a leafy branch by breaking the branch off.
Times, Sunday Times
At present the beeches, hornbeams and limes are particularly beautiful when the sun shines through their leafy branches.
Times, Sunday Times
But now, the burnt trees are beginning to show signs of recovery as small, leafy branches sprout from their sides.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
I cut it back hard each spring and it produces lots of leafy branches, but has never flowered.
Times, Sunday Times
But many conservatives seethed and waited a long time for a chance to reverse what they saw as a dangerous concession to the legislative branch.
Times, Sunday Times
Its programming aims to explore issues and problems of the legislative branch from new perspectives.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
This provision was permanently enacted into law in 2000 in the legislative branch appropriations.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The legislative branch consists of a nine member council.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The legislative branch also experienced a few changes.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
I went to the local branch, where the manager signed a sheet of headed notepaper with my name and address on it.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Set up a business bank account at your local branch.
The Sun (2014)
On Tuesday they visit their local branch office to hand in their collections and have a performance review with their field manager.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The local branch office then deposits the checks into a local bank account.
Principles of Corporate Finance (1991)
When you have satisfactorily answered these questions yourself you need to write to your local branch manager explaining your difficulties and putting forward a revised proposal.
Say Goodbye to Debt (1994)
Then another behind a low branch, another on a thick trunk and others she said that she saw up in the trees.
Times, Sunday Times
Satiated with impala, she climbed up to a low branch and lounged over it, legs on either side.
Times, Sunday Times
Or at the very least hang the bag from a low branch or place it on the roof of a nearby car, thus cleverly making its disposal someone else's problem.
Times, Sunday Times
Soot had perched on a low branch and drawn up one leg and dropped the gray film drowsily over his eyes.
The Secret Garden
They may flit the tail as they walk, and run or jump to a low branch when alarmed.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
If she sees a fallen tree or a low-hanging branch or a thicket, we must clamber over it or under it or through it.
Times, Sunday Times
She then attempts to reach the boat rope from a low-hanging branch, but the crocodile jumps out of the water and narrowly misses her.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Cut back low-hanging branches that could cause damage in high winds.
The Sun
Fifth, when approached by low-hanging branches, duck.
Times, Sunday Times
He trots when he wants to, frequently stops to eat and seems to enjoy going under low-hanging branches and through prickly holly.
The Sun
Cut back all the whippy growth to about 30cm from where it meets the main branch.
Times, Sunday Times
The main branch was more than 85 metres (278ft) long and up to 3.5 metres (12ft) high; the side branches were slightly smaller.
Times, Sunday Times
The somatomotor portion of radial nerve innervating anconeus bifurcates from the main branch in the radial groove of the humerus.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The canyon descends steeply in four steps before merging with the main branch of the canyon.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The main branch also has a collection of official reports, reprints, maps, and microfilms.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The color of the piping and kepi denoted the military branch.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Military vehicles have registration plates bearing their registration number preceded by the emblem of their respective military branch.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Navigating branch epaulettes were the same as the military branch, but with crossed plain anchors in place of the foul anchor.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The program introduced the historical, scientific, and technical aspects specific to each military branch.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Several lesser leaders, for example, the head of the military branch, have been captured.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The somatomotor fibers of the radial nerve branch from the main radial nerve at the level of the radial groove of the humerus.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
In a study published in 2009, the terminal nerve branch size was investigated to see how it affected nerve regeneration.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Plantar heel pain may occur for multiple reasons and release of the lateral plantar nerve branch may be performed alongside the plantar fasciotomy in select cases.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Depending on whom you asked, the soul might be in your head, heart, brain, blood, or in the nerves branching through the flesh.
The Times Literary Supplement
The sciatic nerve branches into the deep fibular nerve and the tibial nerve.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Above the steep opposite bank, a benign previous visitor has tied a swinging rope to an oak branch.
Times, Sunday Times
However, in 1939, the oak branch was removed.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The oak branch symbolizes the strength of the nation; and the laurel wreath: honour and glory.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The reverse featured the denomination within a laurel branch and oak branch.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Supporting the shield are two red dolphins, holding at their right a laurel branch and at their left an oak branch.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
I should set up my own bank and open a branch up a hill.
Times, Sunday Times
A senior executive said the plan was to open the branch but staff were worried about security.
Times, Sunday Times
But they have opened a branch on a cruise ship.
The Sun
A pair of crested owls peers silently from a palm branch.
Times, Sunday Times
Both the upper sections are crowned with angels, one blowing a bassoon, the other waving a palm branch.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
As the adults come into the service, give them palm branches, too.
Christianity Today
A laurel wreath lies atop the palm branches.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
On the front of the memorial are carved in bas-relief several palm branches, which lean to the left and shade the panel below.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Participants then approach the altar in pairs, one burning incense and the other sprinkling water from a pine branch.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Use floral wire to secure pine branches to the wreath base.
The Sun
The foreground features a pine branch.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Put 1kg of the remaining pine branches on to the coals then put the grate on top of the branches.
The Sun
His only other protection from the elements was a foam roll mat, and some pine branches if he could find any.
Times, Sunday Times
The traditional name tags also contained the contestant's (or their family member's) service branch.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
These ranks are identified by 3 (three) stars or suns according to the service branch.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The service branch planned to buy 12,000 of these conversion kits in early 2011.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The example shows a collar insignia of the main service branch operations and traffic service (red).
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The items are then sent to a service branch.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The shrub's thorny branches and thicket forming habit provide a shelter for many small animal species and an ideal nesting site for songbirds.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
This tree grows to 1013 m high with a dense crown of thorny branches and an ash-grey trunk.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Its long arching thorny branches bear heart-shaped leaves and masses of papery bracts in white, pink, orange, purple, and burgundy.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Don't forget to hang the tea-light chandelier from the tree branch.
Times, Sunday Times
They let loose hurricane-level winds using a leaf blower on capture anoles on a wooden perch similar to a tree branch.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Soon after that, they start singing from a tree branch in the territory.
Times, Sunday Times
In addition to their song flights, they often perch on a tree branch to sing.
Times, Sunday Times
They lie low by daylight, either stretched out along a tree branch (not across it, as most birds sit), or resting motionless on the ground.
Times, Sunday Times
The (c) -examples contain one instance of right-branching (the upper branch) and one instance of left-branching (the lower branch).
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Lemurs typically sleep on the upper branches of trees.
Smithsonian
A keen gardener, he would think nothing of taking a pruning saw to the upper branches of a tree when well into his eighties.
Times, Sunday Times
Upper branches in full light respond better to pruning and are more vigorous; always cut to a side branch which can take over the lead.
Times, Sunday Times
But to reach the upper branches of your treehouse, you have to go over a bridge and past a lake where there's plenty of scope for sunbathing and watersports.
The Sun
The various branches of law enforcement do not share information as well as they should.
Times, Sunday Times
Other subjects recruiting large numbers in clearing last year included the various branches of engineering and the biological sciences.
Times, Sunday Times
The college provides education in various branches of commerce up to postgraduate level.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The various branches of the army were organized on the sound military basis.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
They give the participants a working knowledge or experience of various branches of engineering.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
They sit on a willow branch above the water, sometimes clearly discernible there, and plunge down to take a fish.
Times, Sunday Times
He hesitates, and a willow branch knocks him unconscious.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
In densely planted stands of sycamore, the twigs rattle against each other, while willow branches creak as they rub together.
Times, Sunday Times
This task involved intricately cutting and weaving willow branches into a palisade that would sprout in the summer to become a vigorous green barrier.
Times, Sunday Times
The atrium will be covered with willow branches.
Globe and Mail
Translations:
Chinese: 分枝
Japanese: 枝
- combustion
- combustion efficiency
- combustion process
- combustion technology
- come
- come aboard
- come about
- come a cropper
- come a cropper
- come across
- come again
- come alive
- come alive
- come along
- come alongside
- come apart at the seams
- come apart at the seams
- come apart at the seams/fall apart at the seams
- come around
- come as a shock
- come ashore
- come at
- come back
- comeback
- comeback album